Page 13 of Secrets and Ruin

But not in my house and not directed at Carey.

“Don’t,” I whispered softly, an order I didn’t feel needed to be loud. Heath’s back was turned to them, but in the corner of my eye, I saw his eyes shift from human to wolf, becoming the ice blue I knew well. He didn’t need to know who I had just said that to, only that I said it.

Arlo sank, his face going blank as he focused on his homework again.

“Teenagers,” Heath said, his tone not matching the fury in his eyes. He was doing his best, too. There was only one thing Arlo or Benjamin could ever do to earn Heath’s ire—not his annoyance, not his disappointment, but his anger.

If they ever threatened Carey, he would no longer treat them as young men who weren’t fully adults. He would fight them as if they were genuine threats to his family. They were. Any werewolf or werecat was. While Heath and I could handle our own protection, we trusted Arlo and Benjamin with Carey. If they lost control and bit her, she would have to survive the Change or die. It was the only rule that made the boys equal to the adult werewolves around them.

“Hormones,” I agreed, nodding lightly. Arlo seemed to have already cooled, knowing he had crossed a line. Even though the growl was probably instinct over intention, it was important to learn to control those impulses.

Working on something for the teens to eat, an easy snack, until Heath and I decided on dinner, I watched as Carey slowly found a way to shift away from Arlo, and because she did that, Heath steadily calmed down until his eyes went back to normal. It was a deft play on Carey’s part. At sixteen, she knew how to deal with the predators around her better than some of the predators themselves. Heath eventually left, heading outside, comfortable everyone in the room was calm and safe again.

“All right, mine is done. You can get the rest of your own done,” Carey announced.

“But…” Arlo looked as if he wanted to ask for more help but quickly thought better. “Thanks for helping with the harder ones. I can get it from here.”

“Cool, because I can’t do your homework for you,” she said as she stuffed her books away. “Benjamin, don’t help him, either.”

“Do you want to play something?” Benjamin asked, smiling at her as she stood up. “I’m done with mine, too.”

“Yeah!” Carey grinned as they left the living room and ducked into her room. The door was left open for Heath’s peace of mind.

Arlo looked annoyed as he kept working, throwing glances at Carey’s room every time he heard her laugh. When I walked by to get something, the scent of his jealousy was thick in the air, so was his attraction. I had always wondered if one of the boys would fall for her, and it almost fit that it was Arlo.

But there was a problem I noticed while walking by.

There was also a faint bit of Benjamin’s own crush hidden under Arlo’s stronger scent, which Arlo would have caught.

Oh, no. No, no. We can’t have this.

I wanted to laugh even as I realized the problem we faced.

“Snacks are done!” I called out, then looked around, wondering where my fiancé had wandered off to. I’d put together a platter of veggies and dips, adding some fruits and cheese for anyone who wanted those instead. I could have gotten a store-bought tray, but I enjoyed the process of setting it up while watching everyone moving around the house. I could still close it up and save it for another day or later if I wanted a late-night snack.

“Thanks, Jacky,” Carey said as she grabbed a carrot.

“You’re welcome,” I said as I walked past her, heading outside to see where Heath had gone. I found him easily enough, sitting in the security building.

“Just looking for a private place to get away from them or spying on all of us?” The screens were on, rotating through the different camera angles for maximum coverage of my property.

“Somewhere quiet to get the scents out of my nose,” he explained. “Arlo isn’t doing poorly. I reacted strongly.”

“He growled at her. You handled it well enough, letting me tell him to quit it.” I stood in front of him, blocking his view of the screens. “He handled it well by immediately realizing he wasn’t in control and adjusting his behavior.”

“It’s only going to get harder with him, you know. It’ll get harder before it gets easier.” Heath groaned softly. “In a couple more years, he’ll have the right to challenge others in the pack. We say Dirk is the lowest-ranking member, but he’s an adult. Technically, Arlo and Benjamin are lower, even under Teagan. Once Arlo is allowed to challenge someone, he could get hurt or could hurt someone. He’ll get temperamental, a lot like Dirk’s and Ranger’s issues. They’ve calmed down, he will as well, but it’s a storm I’m not excited to weather.”

“How has Kody gotten through it without that sort of problem?” Shamus’s younger son was still in his early twenties, but I couldn’t remember seeing anything like what Heath was describing. “Or Stacy. This can’t only be a male problem.”

“It’s not. Shamus is old enough and dominant enough to keep him in his place until Kody is truly ready. He’ll get to be more like his father, I bet, but Shamus knows how to guide him. Stacy is not so dominant as to want to fight for her place, not until she has to.” Heath sighed, one of exhaustion. “Teagan loves those boys with everything he has, and he’s the father they both deserve. One who will just love them where adults have failed them before. But when it comes to Arlo’s maturity as a werewolf, that will come to me… sooner rather than later.”

“Are you worried?” I asked gently.

“No, not about Arlo growing up. He’s an honorable young man, only battling the same monster we all do,” Heath said, shaking his head slowly. “I’m uncomfortable with myself. I don’t like when I have to fight my own instincts around the boys. I don’t want to ever be in the position of wanting to fight them, wolf to wolf. I have a hard boundary with Carey’s safety, but I never want to have to enforce it. I stepped out once I felt comfortable enough to do that to clear my head.”

I felt immense guilt about why I had come to find my fiancé, knowing what I knew now.

“I trust you,” I murmured as I sat in his lap, wrapping my arms around him. His arms became a vice around my waist, not too tight but firm enough to make sure I felt secure. “With Arlo and Benjamin. I think everyone in the pack does.”

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